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Frere Luc, France Bringing the Faith to the Indians of New France, 1675
- Element of violence represented/masked by art
- Power dynamic between two figures
- Woman is personification of France
- Native is a hybrid of a figure, already looks somewhat European
- Ship represented in background, native architecture with crosses
- Manifest Destiny, France using God given right to take land
- Domesticating landscape, taming, creating a home
- 'Tender violence' |
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A Hopi Kiva (no artist or date)
- Site or room for ceremonies
- Entered through roof
- Roof made of wooden beams
- Indent in floor considered naval of the Earth |
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Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues, René de Laudonnière and the Indian Chief Athore visit Ribaut’s Column, c. 1570
- Fleur de lis on the column
- Native population bowing down
- Abundance of the land is laid before the column
- Coloration of natives is strange, white, highlighting difference in skin (to shock)
- Lance (weapon) right in front of chief in hand
- Column eventually taken by Spanish to Cuba |
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Parson Capen House, Topsfield, Massachusetts, 1683
- Where wealthy family would live
- Houses still exist like this today, preserved by committee
- Exterior appears to be simple structures, but actually very complicated interior (advanced for its time) |
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Benjamin West, The Death of General Wolfe, 1770
- Setting French British War (aka 7 Years War, French and Indian War)
- Britain goes into great debt following this war
- Wolf depicted like a pieta (dying Christ)
- Flag = strong diagonal (like a cross)
- Shout out to Sir William Johnson
- 'Noble Savage' = white artist depicting native as being noble (pensive, contemplative, sad) while being represented of antiquity physique but also naked
- Much more complicated than Wolf's Death |
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Paul Revere after Henry Pelham, The Bloody Massacre, 1770
- Political print of Boston Massacre
- Red soldiers are British
- Wants to create sympathy for colonists; British have uniforms and weapons
- Put Boston Massacre where it actually occurred
- A lot of debate as to what actually happened at Boston Massacre |
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Gilbert Stuart, George Washington (the Lansdowne Portrait), 1796
- Both portraits by Stuart of Washington are about elevating his legacy
- Left hand is sword, right hand is quill and paper
- Symbols indicating importance
- Eagle carved on leg of table
- Mythic ideal |
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Thomas Jefferson, Monticello, Charlottesville, Virginia,
1770–82 and 1796–1809
-Means 'small mountain'
- Winding road up to house
- Initial greetings of Nation and his interests
- collected Native American objects in interior
- Invented clock on the wall (showcase of achievements)
- Elaborate nature of interior, Jefferson died in tremendous debt |
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Rufus Porter, Painted Dining Room, Holsaert House, Hancock, New Hampshire, c. 1825–30
- Cosmopolitan space on a smaller scale
- Looked for work, wasn't a grand artist hired for commisions
- More middle-upper class work |
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Charles Willson Peale, The Artist in His Museum, 1822
- Done towards the end of his life
- Showcased the Natural World in his museum
- Shelves with classified system of taxidermy animals
- American turkey, taxidermy tools in foreground
- Quaker woman in background, in awe of bones of prehistoric animal
- Image about celebrating education and new nation
- Almost like Peale is specimen himself
- Named his children after famous artists |
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Belonged to Sore Belly or Arapoosh (leader of the River Crow), decorated hide shield, early 19th century
- Belonged to leader of Rivercrow tribe
- Represent vision quest (going into nature and seeking a vision)
- Believed shield had magical power to it |
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Thomas Cole, The Course of Empire: Consummation, 1835-36
- Title is referring to full of land
- Nature to large extent is gone
- Image is about excess and luxury
- Hinting towards things going too far
- Peaceful sense of excess becomes horrific
- Initial plans for this painting appeared beneath canvas for 'The Oxbow/View from Mount Holyoke' |
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Thomas Cole, 'View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm—The Oxbow', 1836
- Hebrew letters appear in mountains
- Cole is looking at Oxbow
- Encapsulates warning of natural world and celebration of 'look at how far we've come'
- Cole turns to viewer
- Foreboding sky
- View coming from above level of physical viewer, expanse look onto land (almost godly) |
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William Sidney Mount, Bargaining for a Horse, 1835
- 'Genre painting' painting of everyday life
- Larger political message
- Includes idea that something is amiss
- Man in top hat could be a con-man
- Roof above is cracked and falling |
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Lilly Martin Spencer, Young Husband: First Marketing, 1854
- Man sent to market by his wife, as he returns he's screwing everthing up
- Going against typical norm
- Female artist in time of male artists (female artists not yet 'acceptable' to society) |
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Richard Caton Woodville, Old ’76 and Young ’48, 1849
- Theme of the family: gender roles, presenting the home, values
- 3 generations in one image, pointing to old man on wall
- 3 African American figures at doorway, they are not central to the scene of family
- Boy seems to be explaining something (dressed like soldier) intently, grandfather turning away in disinterest.
- Portrait on wall is of George Washington
- Heated discussion about Mexican war in 1848
- Boy’s hat and sword in foreground
- Wine and food on the table, plenty of abundance. Worth taking risk of war?
- Debate over whether new states would become free states or slave states |
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Richard Caton Woodville, War News from Mexico, 1848
- American Hotel porch, slaves on the periphery of the porch (most affected by news)
- Small town, center of communal life, where news could be received
- Post office inside, newspaper has just arrived
- Newspaper Is folded up from letter envelope
- Woman in the image, represented outside of porch, doesn’t have the right to vote |
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Anonymous (Navajo), Sarape, c. 1825–60
- More and more native populations decimated by increased expansion
- Leading to Navajo 'interior style', appropriated by Western expansionists |
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Robert S. Duncanson, Uncle Tom and Little Eva, 1853
- One of few sucessful african american artists of time
- Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, widely popular with public, adopted into plays. - Tells compelling story about slave family that has been split up by ravages of slavery. Book itself is still very racist, ‘Uncle Tom’ is derogatory name for black man too subservient to whites.
- Abolitionist work (based on abolitionist book)
- Critics accuse work of being complacent |
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John Rogers, Slave Auction, 1859
- Work made of plaster, could be ordered through the mail
- About 13” high, small objects
- Mass produced
- Rogers and collectors of his work were abolitionists
- Husband and wife stand separated from each other, implying that family will be torn apart
- Idea of domesticity, American home should be place were people learn moral virtue; If slavery is breaking family, how can American be land of virtue
- Reducing them to livestock on written sign
- Auctioneer looks demonic, hand has gavel, aggressively involved and pleased
- People displayed these objects in their home, more accessible through mass production and mail order |
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Eastman Johnson, Negro Life in the South (Kentucky Home), 1859
- Also ‘Old Kentucky Home’
- Groups of family members, flirtations, children
- Tugs at heartstrings of abolitionists, chaos in scene, house is dilapidated
- Outbreak of Civil War is two years away
- White figure painted in her best light, interrupting scene
- Inclusion of music and playing (stereotype)
- Reverses typical placement of white figure in center and black figures on margins
- Antebellum period in Washington, very tense at time period of slavery in Washington
- Actually Eastman Johnson’s backyard in DC, DC is a center of debate over federal control of slavery
- “Geographic amnesia”, adopted by multiple groups and claimed to be in Kentucky, Virginia
- America has a type of amnesia regarding slavery |
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John Lewis Krimmel, Quilting Frolic, 1813
- Artist born in Germany
- Lots of interaction during this time esp for artists
- Concerned with creating images that hold messages or meaning
- Meant to be typical middle class home: pic of George Washington, two maritime scenes, silouettes from ancestors, caged bird, grandfather clock, rifle and hunting bag hung, dining objects in cabinet
- Foreground is messy, domestic fear is mess.
- Quilting frolic, party about putting together quilt
- Range of figures associated with family and servants
- Other people coming from outside, joining party
- Man playing fiddle, clothes are ripped, happy to entertain, stereotypical exaggeration of face (super dark, light lips), exaggeration of joy from playing music
- Little girl looks happy to be doing the work she’s doing, also exaggerated complexion |
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Edmonia Lewis, Forever Free, 1867
- Made while Lewis studied in Rome
- Raising fist in type of freedom towards heavens
- Criticism of white features of slave woman
- Lewis herself faces racism
- Critic: “Lewis is below the medium height, her complexion and features/personality"...goes on to describe Lewis rather than her work |
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Anonymous, Am I Not a Man and a Brother, 1837
- Print based on medallion made by Wedgewood (ceramic makers)
- Quote very popular
- British abolitionist image
- Kneeling still relevant today (Kaepernick and kneeling in NFL) |
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